The story of the day has been the Miami Marlins offering ten guaranteed years to Albert Pujols. Ten guaranteed years without a no-trade clause, but still, ten guaranteed years, and a lot of money. It's a hell of an offer. The focus then shifted to whether or not the St. Louis Cardinals would counter.

The St. Louis Cardinals have countered. And oh by the way there's another team supposedly in the mix too, turns out. Bob Nightengale:

Marquee free-agent first baseman Albert Pujols, fueling the most lucrative bidding war in baseball history, obtained three 10-year contract proposals Tuesday that would pay him in excess of $200 million, an official close to the negotiations told USA TODAY.

This is an unconfirmed rumor, like most things that come out of the winter meetings, but it sounds legitimate, and if it is, then what we have are the Marlins offering ten years and gobs of money, the Cardinals offering ten years and gobs of money, and - wait for it - a mystery team offering ten years and gobs of money. We've been waiting for that mystery team to show up in Dallas, and now here it is, being all flashy like always.

The Cubs reportedly offered Pujols a contract earlier, but it wasn't for ten years, or for anything close to ten years. I don't know who the mystery team might be, or if it truly exists, but given the way things have gone, it might be the Marlins. "If we double the offers, we double the chances!"

Earlier, I was getting the sense that Pujols could make his decision Tuesday night. Now I'm thinking Wednesday, at the earliest. But I'm not an expert. (Seriously.)